Jamie L. Manser LIS 518 - Information Quality Week 5: Quality Control We are buried beneath the weight of information, which is being confused with knowledge. - Tom Waits interviews Tom Waits During this last election season, an avalanche of fake news on the candidates crammed social media, outperforming fact-based news stories in terms of Facebook engagements (defined as shares, reactions and comments). According to BuzzFeed Founding Editor Craig Silverman’s article, in the last … [Read more...]

I'm gazing at a gorgeously vibrant Sonoran desert landscape adjacent to my friend's patio; the valley to the southeast below is a sea of city lights. Winds are gusting up to 20, 30 miles per hour. It’s election night. Seashell chimes dance and sing upon the winds’ insistence. The saguaro stands firm, the agave’s points don’t dull. But I feel dulled, I feel sad, then I feel terror. The electricity in the atmosphere, the aggressive movement of the air – how divided is this country? Can we unite in … [Read more...]

It's twilight on Tuesday, November 1, 2016. I'm listening to Game 6 of the World Series on the radio, sitting on the back patio of my rental looking at houses for sale online and distracted by wanting to read last Sunday’s New York Times and fill out my early ballot. But, I’m transfixed on radio waves, occasionally popping in the house to watch some replays, and coming back out here to write. Through most of my life, I haven’t much cared for baseball. I played it as a kid (yes, baseball. The … [Read more...]